Decision to Renew Space Shuttle Flights to ISS May Be Taken By the Year's End

Even optimistic forecasts suggest that the decision to renew shuttle flights to the International Space Station /ISS/ may not be made until the end of the year, Director of NASA's Human Space Flight Programs in Russia James Newman said.

He was speaking at a press conference at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in the Stellar Town, Moscow Region, where members of the 7th long-term expedition to the ISS were announced.

US space shuttles were grounded following the Columbia spacecraft crash on February 1, 2003.

According to Newman, at present two commissions are working in the United States: an independent commission investigating the causes of the crash and a NASA commission ensuring that the three remaining shuttles resume flights.

"The NATO commission will be able to announce a fixed date of resuming shuttle flights no sooner that the independent commission unveils the findings of their investigation this June," Newman said.